Four tight ends scored 11 or more PPR Fantasy points in Week 1 of the 2024 season. Their names were Isaiah Likely, Foster Moreau, Brock Bowers, and Kyle Pitts. Likely was the only tight end in the league to have more than 60 receiving yards. In a year when many said with a straight face that the tight position was deeper than ever, Week 1 looked like a total disaster.
The nice thing is that none of the tight ends you drafted early really hurt you this week because it very likely your opponent had a bad score as well. And I am mostly giving the tight ends we drafted as starters a pass, though there are three I will be watching very closely this week.
The first should be obvious, it's Andrews. The tape shows that Kansas City made every effort to take Andrews away and it worked, but also led to a huge day for Likely. Will the Raiders make the same choice? If they don't, will Andrews be the team's number one target again? That is my expectation.
Second comes Kelce. He looked like the second option underneath to Rashee Rice and Rice looked incredible with the ball in his hands. It's possible the team gets Marquise Brown back this week as well. Kelce was on my preseason bust list, so if he has another poor outing, I am going to be more likely to believe it.
Finally, there's Kincaid. I didn't draft him this offseason but I still expected a lot more than the two targets we saw in Week 1. I'm still starting him on Thursday night against the Dolphins, unless I somehow have him and Brock Bowers on the same roster.
As always, you can find my full projections for every position and every player over at Sportsline.
Here's everything else you need to know about tight end in Week 2:
Week 2 TE Preview
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Who's Out
The following players are not being projected to play Week 2 at this time. Here's what it means:
Brandin Cooks or the running backs could see a few more targets
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Jordan Akins is the next man up at tight end for Cleveland.
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Juwan Johnson is a good stream.
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Numbers to Know
- 38.1% -- Trey McBride led all tight ends with a 38.1% air yards share. Of all the disappointing Week 1 concerns, I am least concerned about him.
- 26.7% -- Brock Bowers led the Raiders with a 26.7% target share. Start him.
- 6.1 -- Since 2019 Zach Ertz has averaged 6.1 yards per target. He'll need a massive target share to be a viable starter at that rate.
- 30% -- Isaiah Likely led all tight ends with a 30% target share in Week 1. If he's somehow still available in your league, go get him.
- 42 -- Colby Parkinson's 42 routes were more than any other tight end. Mark Andrews was second.
Matchups that matter
Waiver Wire Targets
Now that Isaiah Likely has already been added everywhere, Parkinson is about as good as you're going to do as a streamer. And it's not that bad to start the guy who ran more routes than anyone else last week. Puka Nacua's absence opens some target share and an eight-point floor without a touchdown looks pretty nice at the position right now.
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DFS Plays
McBride led his team i targets and led the position in air yards share, there's not reason to believe his Week 1 dud was anything other than variance. He's still my favorite tight end rest of season and he's by far my favorite tight end value in DFS this week.
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The Browns have a great defense, but they aren't particularly tough on tight ends, and I think Trevor Lawrence will be looking to his short area targets more often due to the Browns pass rush. I don't make much of Engram's terrible Week 1 because Trevor Lawrence only threw 22 passes.
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Heath's Projections
My full set of Week 1 Fantasy football projections for every position are now available on SportsLine. You can find them here. Find out which of my favorite plays are projected to score higher than consensus rankings and which don't live up to their draft hype, at least in Week 1. Projected stats for all starting tight ends are available, so be sure to check out the full set of projections at SportsLine.
Who should you start and sit this week? And which surprising running back could lead you to victory? Visit SportsLine now to get Week 2 Fantasy rankings for every position, plus see which RB comes out of nowhere to crack the top five, all from the model that has outperformed experts big-time.
